Understanding Nordic Digital Order: Digitalisation of Policing in the Nordics, Activism, and Surveillance Oversight

Application summary

Policing is a key area of security governance that has been undergoing rapid but also often controversial digitalization. The digitalization of law enforcement raises significant concerns about the protection of citizens’ privacy and constitutional rights – including the right to civic engagement – in relation to digital surveillance, Artificial Intelligence, face recognition, geolocation, and Intelligence-led or predictive policing. Yet we know little about how digital tools are adopted and adapted in policing and with what social impact. UNDO incorporates academic research, art and participatory algorithm-making to create and sustain spheres of critical public insight and protection of civil rights in connection to digital policing. We review the introduction new data-based tools in Finland, Denmark and Sweden through research and documentary filmmaking, interrogate what is at stake in digital policing for the public and marginalized popluations through film and ethnography, and engage communities in developing a digital application that applies computer vision technology to make citizens aware of public surveillance technologies. By using this combination of academic research, action research, and artistic inquiry, we will critically investigate the role and transformation of the Nordic public in connection to digitalization of the police. By reaching out through participatory research and documentary filmmaking we will foster a space for critical reflection on the protection of civil rights in the age of big data.